Death March Through Russia: The Memoir of Lothar Herrmann by Klaus Willmann

In most memoirs I am usually able to find something of value and worth. There are usually little details or facts that many might overlook but which can supplement better known popular histories and give readers or specialists a better understanding of the larger themes or topics being covered. In "Death March Through Russia" readers will be presented with a text that contains a plethora of mundane details about everyday life in the prewar period and in the postwar period. The Second World War passes by like a ghost and I found myself on more than one occasion wondering what the author actually did during the war. The real value here is in his POW experience in the Soviet Union in the postwar period and thanks to his talents and resourcefulness, he was able to find jobs that were in high demand and which often resulted in him receiving extra rations. There is something to gaining a better understanding of the POW experience but I would be hard pressed to say this text enhanced my understanding of either Germany in the prewar period, the Second World War, or what POWs went through in the postwar period in the Soviet Union.